Purpose: Taguchi design has been adopted in order to identify optimal parametric combination for desired quality of weld. Design/methodology/approach: A plan of experiments based on Taguchi technique has been used. An orthogonal array, signal to noise (S/N) ratio and analysis of variance (ANOVA) are employed to study the welding characteristics of material & optimize the welding parameters. Findings: The welding investigators have always been in search for better quality of weldment. In present work, effect of current, gas flow rate and nozzle to plate distance on quality of weld in metal gas arc welding of Austenitic stainless steel AISI 316L has been studied through experiment and analyses. Butt welded joints have been made by several levels of current, gas flow rate and nozzle to plate distance. The result computed is in form of contribution from each parameter, through which optimal parameters are identified for maximum tensile strength and percentage elongation. Research limitations/implications: The main objective of the present study was to apply the Taguchi method to establish the optimal set of control parameters for the welding. The Taguchi method is employed to determine the optimal combination of design parameters, including: current, gas flow rate and nozzle to plate distance. Practical implications: Weld quality mainly depends on features of bead geometry, mechanical-metallurgical characteristics of the weld as well as on various aspects of weld chemistry and these features are expected to be greatly influenced by various input parameters like current, voltage, electrode stick-out, gas flow rate, edge preparation, position of welding, welding speed and many more in metal inert gas (MIG) welding. Moreover, the cumulative effect of the mentioned quality indices determines the extent of joint strength that should meet the functional aspects of the weld in practical field of application. Therefore, preparation of a satisfactory good quality weld seems to be a challenging job. Originality/value: The result computed is in form of contribution from each parameter, through which optimal parameters are identified for maximum tensile strength and percentage elongation. This paper presents new results of optimization using Taguchi method.